1

Shigenobu KAWASAKI

• Director for Road Engineering Analysis,National Highway and Risk Management Division

• Road Bureau, Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism of Japan

• kawasaki-s24k@mlit.go.jp

Issues and Lessons Learned from the Great East Japan Earthquake

•Thank you for your introduction.

•My name is [Shigenobu] KAWASAKI from (the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport, and Tourism of) Japan.

•First, on behalf of the Japanese government, I would like to express our deepest appreciation for the sympathy and warm support generously given by more than 160 countries, 40 international organizations, a large number of non‐governmental organizations [NGOs], and people around the world after the Great East Japan Earthquake.

•Today, I would like to present the damages, recovery, issues and lessons learned from the Earthquake.

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Contents of Today’s Presentation

1. Overview of the Earthquake and Tsunami

2. Damages on Roads: Lessons Leaned from the Past

3. Recovery of Roads: Emergency Recovery for Affected Area

4. Issues in Road Infrastructure: For the “Next” Great Earthquake

•Here are the contents of today’s presentation.

•First, I will talk about the Overview of the Earthquake and Tsunami.

•Second, Damages on Roads. Then, Recovery of Roads, and Issues in Road Infrastructure at the end.

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1. Overview of the Earthquake and Tsunami

By Touhoku Construction Association

•First, I am going to talk about the overview of the Earthquake and Tsunami.

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Overview of the Earthquake

• “The Great East Japan Earthquake” occurred at 14:46 on March 11, 2011.

• This was the 4th largest earthquake in the world since 1900.

RankDate

(Japan Time)Location

Magnitude

(Mw)

1 May 23, 1960 Chile 9.5

2 Mar 28, 1964 The Gulf of Alaska 9.2

3 Dec 26, 2004Western coast of

Sumatra, Indonesia9.1

4 Nov 5, 1952 The Kamchatka 9.0

Mar 11, 2011Tohoku area off

the Pacific Coast 9.0

•The Great East Japan Earthquake occurred at 14:46 [2:46 PM] on March 11[, 2011].

•The epicenter was off the coast of the Eastern Japan in the Pacific, and the magnitude was 9.0.

•This was the fourth largest in the last 100 years after the Chile earthquake in 1960 and Sumatra in 2004.

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Mechanism of Earthquake

• This earthquake is categorized as an “interplate” earthquake.

太平洋プレート

北米プレート

日本

海溝

南海ト ラフ

ユーラシアプレート

フィリピン海プレート

Pacific Plate

Philippine Sea Plate

Eurasia Plate

North American Plate

Japa

n Tr

ench

Nankai Trough

•This earthquake is categorized as an “interplate” earthquake.

•Interplate earthquakes occur when one of colliding plates rebounds from accumulated stress.

•As you can see in this figure, four different plates meet around Japan, causing frequent large‐scale earthquakes.

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Mechanism of Interplate Earthquake

• Earthquakes and tsunamis occur when accumulated stress of a plate bounces back.

• Probability of this earthquake in 30 years was 99%.

海側の

プレート

海溝

陸側の

プレート 海側の

プレート

津波の

発生

跳ね

上がり

陸側の

プレート

ひきずり

込み

歪の蓄積

陸側の

プレートtrench

Generate tsunami

Pacific plate

Conti-nentalplate

Drag down

Bounce back

Conti-nentalplate

Pacific plate

Conti-nentalplate

Stress accumu-

late

•This figure shows the mechanism of interplate earthquakes.

•Earthquakes and tsunamis occur when accumulated stress of a plate bounces back.

(Skip if there is not enough time)

•The Japanese government scientifically estimates probabilities of large‐scale earthquakes in Japan. (Headquarters for Earthquake Research Promotion of the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science & Technology)

•According to the estimate, the probability of an earthquake off the coast of Miyagi‐prefecture, which is one of the most affected areas of the earthquake, in 30 years was 99%.

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Tsunami Generation

• On the Sanriku Coast, massive tsunami was generated. • Flood height from the tsunami reached 40 meters.

Source: The 2011 Tohoku Earthquake Tsunami Joint Survey Group (http://www.coastal.jp/ttjt/)

0 - 10m

10 - 30m

Over 30m

Legend

浸水高の分布

震央(M9.0)Epicenter (M9.0)

Distribution of Flood Height

•This earthquake caused tsunami.

•The tsunami was massive. On the Sanriku Coast in the Tohoku Region, the flood height from the tsunami almost reached 40 meters. [The word “Tohoku” means Northeastern in Japanese.]

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Overview of Damage Human and Property Damage

• Killed : 15,783 persons

• Missing : 4,086 persons

• Injured : 5,932 persons

• Total collapse :115,185 buildings

• Half collapse :162,276 buildings

(As of September 12, 2011)

Source: National Police Agency

1-99 persons

100-9,999 persons

10,000 and over

Legend

Number of persons killed/missing by prefecture

This earthquake and tsunami caused damages:

As of September 12th: 

• Over 15,000 persons died.

• More than 4,000 are missing.

• And, over 5,900 have been injured.

Damages on Buildings are:

• About 110,000 buildings were totally collapsed.

• And over 160,000 were half collapsed.

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Tokyo

Overview of Damage Large-scale Liquefaction

Lifted Manhole

Sand boiling in reclaimed

land

50cm

Sand Boiling

Areas of Liquefaction (Tokyo Capital Area)

Legend:Liquefaction

Area

• In Tokyo Capital Area, liquefaction affected at least 42km2.

•The earthquake caused liquefaction extensively in the Tokyo Capital Area, which is far away from the epicenter.

•As far as we could confirm, the large‐scale liquefaction affected at least 42km2, particularly in the reclaimed lands and former river channels.

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2. Damages on Roads:Lessons Leaned from the Past

•Next, I will present the damages on roads caused by this earthquake.

•Though this earthquake caused serious damages on roads, the lessons from the past experience had been applied to prevent further devastation. 

•I would like to introduce some examples.

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Damage on Trunk Road Network

• Damages were caused on roads in wide areas.

• 15 expressway routes and 69 sections on the national highways were closed, mainly in Tohoku Region.

Tokyo

Expressway

National highway

Closure on expressway

Closure on national highway

•The earthquake caused damages on roads in wide areas.

•Right after the earthquake, 15 expressway routes and 69 sections on the national highways were closed.

•Numerous sections in the prefectural/municipal roads were closed, too.

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Damage on Expressways

• Embankments fell on the traffic lanes at 21 locations.• None of 1,079 expressway bridges in the stricken areas

was collapsed.

Yabuki IC – Sukagawa IC(Tohoku expressway)

Tokyo

Sendai

Tokyo

Sendai

Tokyo

Sendai

Tokyo

Sendai

346locations

137

116

93

# of Damaged Embamk-

ments

Route

Length in

Service(km)

# of Damaged Locations on Lanes

Tohoku Expwy 698 16

Joban Expwy 242 1

Other 680 4

Total 1,620 21locations

•On the expressways, embankments fell on the traffic lanes at 21 locations.

•However, among the 1,079 expressway bridges in the stricken areas, none of them was collapsed.

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Damage on National Highways

• On national highways, a lot of damages were observed (e.g. small cracks on the road surface).• None of 1,528 bridges had significant damages by earthquake(e.g. collapse).

Tokyo

Sendai

Tokyo

Sendai

Tokyo

Sendai

Tokyo

Sendai

Near Ishinomaki city(Ntn’l Hwy 45)

•On the national highways, a lot of damages were observed, such as small cracks on the road surface.

•Among the 1,528 [highway] bridges, five of them were washed away by the tsunami, but none of them were collapsed by the earthquake.

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Lessons Learned from the Past Earthquakes

Jacketed columns and connecting

superstructures

•Revising Standards

•Seismic Reinforcement

Damages by Hanshin-Awaji

Earthquake (1995)

• Hanshin-Awaji Earthquake (1995) caused significant damages (e.g. structure collapse of Hanshin Expressway).

・From the strong seismic motion of this earthquake, the peak ground accelerations of 1G (980gal) or higher were observed in various locations.

Note) The resultant peak acceleration of two horizontal components of ground motions exceeded 1G at 18 locations (Japan Society of Civil Engineers Magazine). 

・Bridge collapses were prevented by having revised the standards and applied seismic reinforcements based on the lessons learned from the past earthquakes.

・In the past, the Hanshin‐Awaji Earthquake in 1995 had caused significant damages, such as the expressway structure collapse. Based on this experience, seismic reinforcements of the existing bridges have been implemented as well as the seismic design standards for road bridges have been revised.

・In the Great East Japan Earthquake, the revised seismic standards functioned effectively because the impact of the medium to long‐period components of the seismic motion of this quake did not exceed the assumption of seismic design standards.

・20 of the prefectural and municipal road bridges were collapsed or closed by the severe damage because the implementations of such countermeasures had been delayed. 

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Tokyo

Sendai

Tokyo

Sendai

Tokyo

Sendai

Tokyo

Sendai

Damage by Tsunami

• Tsunami flooded roughly 100 km across the national highways.• Tsunami brought massive debris (e.g. boat, building), which

covered roads, towns, and agricultural fields.

Wakabayashi JCT(Sendai Tobu expressway)

Natori IC(Sendai Tobu expressway)

Debris

•The tsunami flooded roughly 100 km across the national highways.

•On the expressways, three interchanges and junctions were submerged.

•The tsunami brought massive debris, which covered roads, towns, and agricultural fields.

•Some local residents survived the tsunami by climbing to the expressway embankments.

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Tokyo

Sendai

Tokyo

Sendai

Tokyo

Sendai

Bridges Washed Away by Tsunami

•Five nationally-administrated road bridges were washed away.

Numatabridge

KesenBridge

Koizumi Bridge

MizushiriBridge

UtatsuBridge

•Among the nationally‐administrated road bridges, five of them were washed away even though they survived the earthquake.

•In the nearby areas, the high surges from the tsunami were reported to be as high as 15 meters.

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Damage on Other Transport Infrastructure

•Besides roads, the other modes of transport infrastructure were significantly damaged (e.g. Shinkansen, airport, port, etc.).

Sendai Port

Sendai Airport

Tohoku Shinkansen (high-speed

rail)

•As well as the roads, the other modes of the transport infrastructure were also significantly damaged, such as the Shinkansen [high‐speed rail/bullet train], airports, and ports.

(Skip if there is not enough time.)

•A large tsunami struck Sendai Airport, and the runway was covered with debris and cars.

•The Tohoku Shinkansen was suspended due to the fallen catenary poles, broken wires, and damaged elevated structures.

•All fourteen ports [in the stricken areas] on the Pacific were shut down due to the tsunami damages.

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3. Recovery of Roads:Emergency Recovery for Affected Area

Next, I will present the recovery [situation] of the roads.

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• Recovery of the roads consists of the following 3 steps:

Steps to Recovery of Roads

Disaster

1. Clearing Roads & Temporary recovery：Secure traffic of emergency vehicle

2. Emergency Recovery： Enable traffic of general vehicle

3. Rehabilitation： Repair roads back to conditions before disaster while allowing general traffic

•Recovery of the roads consists of the following steps:

• First, “clearing roads” [and “temporary recovery”] to secure traffic of emergency vehicle right after the earthquake;

• Next, “emergency recovery” to enable traffic of general vehicle;

• “Rehabilitation” to repair the roads back to the conditions before the disaster while allowing general traffic.

•Securing the road function for emergency traffic was the top priority to enable lifesaving and rescue in the affected areas. I will focus on the recovery of the roads for emergency traffic in the next few slides. 

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Securing Emergency Traffic Initiated by Roads

After 1 week After 1 month

Expressway（Tohoku & Joban Expressway）

National Road（Route 4, 45 & 6）

Shinkansen（Tohoku Shinkansen）

LocalRailway

Airport（13 Airports）

Port（15 Ports）

緊急車両通行可能

全線運行再開

96% Recovery(As of 8/29)

3/11 3/12 3/15 3/18 3/24 4/1 4/10 4/13 4/29

1 day

7 days

49 days

4 days

13 daysOpe

ratio

n Sh

utdo

wn

due

to D

isas

ter

Ope

ratio

n Sh

utdo

wn

due

to D

isas

ter Opened to

emergency traffic

Nt’l Hwy 4: Secured function for emergency traffic

N’tnl Hwy 45Clearing nearly complete

Full recovery

Opened for disaster response

Opened for disaster response / general traffic

• Among transport infrastructures, roads were recovered in the early stage to secure as emergency traffic networks.

•This figure shows the recovery of the transport infrastructure by [transport] mode.

•As you can see, after the earthquake, the arterial roads (expressway and national highway) were recovered in the early stage to secure as emergency traffic networks. 

Therefore, the importance and needs of arterial roads were proven to be essential once more as means of providing emergency supplies to stricken areas.

•The expressways and highways were not critically damaged, which led to smooth recovery of the [transport] functions.

•I will talk more in detail.

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Securing Emergency Traffic in Entire Eastern Japan 1Recovery Situation of Expressway

Immediately after Earthquake (March 11)

One day after Earthquake (March 12)

Legend

Open foremergencytraffic, etc.

Closure

• Almost all expressways in Eastern Japan were temporarily recovered in one day and allowed emergency traffic.

•Right after the earthquake, all expressways in eastern Japan were closed for emergency inspections. 

•The day after the earthquake, almost all expressways were temporarily recovered and allowed emergency traffic.

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Securing Emergency Traffic in Entire Eastern Japan 2 Emergency Recovery of Expressway Embankment

Tokyo

Sendai

Tokyo

Sendai

Tokyo

Sendai

Tokyo

Sendai

• Emergency recovery was completed at the damaged embankment areas on the Joban Expressway six days after the earthquake, and it was opened to general traffic.

•Subsequently, the temporarily recovered sections were opened and allowed general traffic.

•I would like to introduce the case of the Joban Expressway (Mito IC) and the recovery road work on the collapsed embankment by the earthquake. The news was reported worldwide.

•In this case, one day after the earthquake, the expressways were open to emergency traffic. Six days after the earthquake, the emergency recovery was completed, and the expressways were open to general traffic. 

•The information of these recovery works is also presented at our Japan booth of this exhibition. Please take a look.

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city

city

city

Pac

ific

Oce

an

Securing Emergency Traffic in Tsunami Affected Areas 1“Operation Comb”: Immediately after Earthquake

1. One day after earthquake (March 12)

Legend

Severely strickenby the tsunami

Damaged ports

Ntn’

l Hw

y 4

Recovered functions of north-south axes

such as Tohoku Expwy, Ntn’l Hwy 4

• North-south axes in the inland, were recovered for emergency traffic.

Tohoku Expwy,

Ntn’lHwy 4

After 1 day

•Securing emergency traffic networks to the tsunami‐affected areas was named as the “Operation Comb” and promptly executed by the national government. I will talk about its outline.

•Because the tsunami destroyed all the 14 ports on the Pacific, the recovery of the [transport] functions started from the inland.

•The day after the earthquake, the Tohoku Expressway and National Highway [Route] 4, which run north‐south in the inland, were recovered for emergency traffic. 

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Securing Emergency Traffic in Tsunami Affected Areas 2“Operation Comb”: 4 days after Earthquake

city

city

city

Pac

ific

Oce

ancomb

2. Four days after earthquake (March 15)

Ntn’

l Hw

y 4

After 4 days

• Next, to recover the emergency traffic networks, 15 routes were secured from the inland to the Pacific Coast.

Secured functions of 15 routes to

Sanriku CoastTohoku Expwy,

Ntn’lHwy 4

Legend

Severely strickenby the tsunami

Damaged ports

•Next, to recover the emergency traffic networks from the inland to the Pacific Coast,  15 routes were secured to reach the coastline four days after the earthquake,

•This recovery was called the “Operation Comb” because the bird’s‐eye view of the emergency traffic networks had a similar shape to a comb.

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Securing Emergency Traffic in Tsunami Affected Areas 3“Operation Comb”: 4 days after Earthquake

<Detailed map>

2. Four days after earthquake (March 15)

Ntn’

l Hw

y 4

• Secured routes from the inland to the coast are winding between mountains.

Legend

Severely strickenby the tsunami

Damaged ports

•The map on the right is the detail of the map on the left to emphasize the geography and elevations.

•As you can see, the routes from the inland to the coast are winding because they are surrounded by the steep mountains.

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city

city

city

Pac

ific

Oce

an

Securing Emergency Traffic in Tsunami Affected Areas 4 “Operation Comb”: One week after Earthquake

3. One week after earthquake (March 18)

Ntn’l Hwy 45 along the Pacific was

reopened except some sections.

Ntn’

l Hw

y 4

• Finally, the transportation functions were recovered along the Pacific Coast.

Tohoku Expwy,

Ntn’lHwy 4

After 7 days

Legend

Severely strickenby the tsunami

Damaged ports

•After securing the routes to the coast, the transportation functions were finally recovered along the Pacific Coast. About 7 days after the earthquake, the traffic for emergency vehicles was secured to enable the lifesaving activities in the affected areas. 

•We recognized that proper preparation and training to secure emergency traffic networks, as done in the “Operation Comb” according to geographical conditions and road development are essential in probable areas of large‐scale tsunamis.

27

Clearing Roads in Tsunami Stricken Areas

By Iwate Prefecture Government

•This picture shows clearing roads in one of the tsunami stricken areas.

•The road administrator of the national government secured traffic for emergency vehicles by clearing massive debris on the roads in cooperation with the Self Defense Forces and Police.

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4．Issues in Road Infrastructure:For the “Next” Great Earthquake

The Great East Japan Earthquake revealed two major issues regarding disaster recovery and the road infrastructure. 

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Effects and Issues of Multilayered Expressways 1Expressway Network in Eastern Japan and Disaster Areas

- Expressway network in eastern Japan and the tsunami-stricken areas

• Affected areas extend mainly along the Pacific Coast where the massive tsunami hit.

LegendExpressway network

Severely damaged by the Tsunami

Designated emergencyevacuation area of the Fukushima Daiichi NuclearPlant （30km radius）

•This figure shows the relationship between the expressway network in eastern Japan and the tsunami‐stricken areas. 

•The affected areas extend mainly along the Pacific Coast where the massive tsunami hit.

•The area circled in red is the restricted area around the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station.

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Effects and Issues of Multilayered Expressways 2Freight Network Functioned as Alternative Route

- Traffic volume of Heavy-duty vehicles on the

Expressways increased after the earthquake

* Before Earthquake: March 7(Mo)~10(Th), 2011

* After Earthquake: March 14(Mo)~17(Th), 2011

Traffic Increased by 30 to 50%

• The freight transport routes along the Sea of Japan functioned as an alternative to the damaged coastal routes along the Pacific.

•The freight transport routes along the Sea of Japan functioned as an alternative to the damaged coastal routes along the Pacific. 

•For instance, in the routes in red, the traffic increased by 30 to 50% after the earthquake. The traffic increase proves the importance of the redundancy that the multilayered expressway networks provided.

31

Effects and Issues of Multilayered Expressways 3Undamaged Sanriku Expressway

• Since the Sanriku Expressway along the Pacific had been designed to avoid tsunamis based on the past tsunamis, it was free of damages.

• Reassured the importance of planning road infrastructure taking into account of tsunami risks.

Ntn’l Hwy 45Sanriku Expressway

Tokyo

Sendai

Tokyo

Sendai

Tokyo

Sendai

•Since the Sanriku Expressway along the Pacific coast had been designed to avoid tsunamis based on the past tsunamis, it was free of damages and served for emergency traffic from right after the disaster. 

•We were reassured the importance of planning road infrastructure taking into account of tsunami risks. 

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0

120

240

360

480

600

震災後の実際の所要時間

三陸道の全線開通を想定

Effects and Issues of Multilayered Expressways 4Missing Links of Expressway along Sanriku Coast

Travel time: Sendai - Miyako

2

4

6

8 7h27m

2h55m

10

0

(hr)

Sendai

Miyako

Expressway networkSections withmissing links(along Pacific Coast)

Legend

• Sanriku Expressway had been less than 50% complete. • It left several issues as an emergency traffic network.

Estimated travel time with

complete Sanriku Expwy

Prolonged travel time after the quake

•However, the Sanriku Expressway had been less than 50% complete. The incompletion left several issues as an emergency traffic network. 

•For instance, it took 7 hours to drive the section between Sendai and Miyako due to detours and congestion after the earthquake. If this section of the expressway had been completed, it would have only taken 3 hours.

•The incompletion clearly caused the congested traffic. If this expressway had been completed, we believe it could have expedited the rescue after the earthquake.

33

Effects and Issues of Multilayered Expressways 5Expected Tsunami Stricken Areas and Missing Link

• Missing links of the expressways in these high-risk flood areas by tsunamis by possible large-scale earthquakes.

Expressway network

Estimated tsunamiaffected areas by Tokai, Tonankai, Nankaiearthquakes(Predicted in Dec. 2003,

Central Disaster Management Council)

Sections with missing links

Legend

•In Japan, probability of other Great Earthquakes (e.g. Tokai, Tonankai, Nankai, etc.) has been pointed out.

•The areas in pink are projected flooded areas by tsunamis caused by large‐scale earthquakes.

•There are missing links of expressways in these areas. We recognize that early development of thorough infrastructure in these areas is a challenge to us.

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• After the earthquake, each government provided information separately.

Necessary Information on Road Immediately after the Earthquake 1

National government provided consolidated information

12 days after the

earthquakeLegend ：Road Closure

National road

Local road

•The next issue is a way to provide information right after an earthquake.

•The Great East Japan Earthquake caused road closures at various locations. After the earthquake, the national, prefectural, and municipal governments provided information separately.

•It required 12 days for the national government to consolidate such information and provide to the public.

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• Road users need information on “available routes” as well as “closed routes” in a situation with a lot of closures.

Closed routes: governments’ perspective

Info. on road closure:

目的地

どこを通れば??

目的地

Necessary Information on Road Immediately after the Earthquake 2

One month after the

earthquake

Desti-nation Desti-

nation

Which route should I take??

Which route should I take??

Available routes: users’ perspective

Info. on available routes:

•Road users need information on “available routes” as well as “closed routes.”

•Providing useful information to road users took one month after the earthquake.

•For the future, it is necessary to provide integrated information from each road authority swiftly as well as providing information of available routes.

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5. Issues and Lessons Learned fromthe Great East Japan Earthquake

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Issues and Lessons Learned from the Great East Japan Earthquake

1. By having applied the lessons of the past earthquakes, such as the revised standards and associated seismic reinforcements, damages on bridges were significantly reduced.

2. Right after an earthquake, the top priority is to secure emergency traffic networks promptly.

3. We recognized the importance of multilayered expressway networks.

4. Right after disasters, necessary information should not be provided by multiple road administrators separately to avoid confusion. Moreover, road users need information such as available road networks.

•We have a number of issues and lessons learned through this East Japan Great Earthquake.

•Let me conclude my presentation by reviewing the major points:

First, by having applied the lessons of the past earthquakes (especially the Hanshin‐Awaji Earthquake), such as the revised standards and associated seismic reinforcements, damages on bridges were significantly reduced.

Second, right after an earthquake, the top priority is to secure emergency traffic networks. At the earthquake, we secured the road networks promptly. This case sets, good practice for the future.

Third, we recognized the importance of multilayered expressway networks to rescue disaster areas and restoration. In Japan, the road development has been delayed in less‐populated areas with low traffic volumes. We believe it is our urgent issue to promptly develop those missing links.

Last, right after disasters, necessary information should not be provided by multiple road administrators separately to avoid confusion. Moreover, road users need information such as available road networks.

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Thank you for Thank you for your kind attention.your kind attention.

Temporary bridge was built in place of previous bridge washed away by tsunami; A step  toward recovery.

•I’d like to take another moment to thank you for your generous support to our country. 

•Thank you for your kind attention.